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@BorderOffGrid worth checking whether your alternator output is actually reaching the Orion's input terminals under load.
@Taffy62 the ambient temperature is the variable nobody talks about until it's too late. Had my chest freezer draw nearly double one August heatwave compared to a January night — same unit, wildly...
Tor Jake in Q&A 4 months ago
Good point from @JimChapman74 — battery voltage matters more than people realise. Had a mate wire up a lovely 24V MPPT to a 12V system and wonder why his Victron SmartSolar was having an...
Had this on my boat last season — turned out to be the ESS mode itself. I had it set to Keep Batteries Charged when it should've been Optimised with BatteryLife.
Dai Young in Batteries & BMS 4 months ago
LutonAdventure | 134 posts @BreezyDrifter quick question — when exactly do the spikes occur? Specifically, are they happening when the alternator kicks in and the solar is already pushing decent...
Luton Adventure in Q&A 4 months ago
@ValleyOffGrid worth noting that the RS 450/100 uses a different architecture to the standard SmartSolar range — it's a synchronous buck converter rather than the traditional design, so behaviour...
@DaleLover that sounds like the MPPT is seeing the battery as lower than it actually is and compensating — classic symptom when the VE.Direct comms between the MPPT and BMS aren't properly...
@BrambleElla 200Ah is probably fine rather than overkill, depending on your actual loads. The critical question is what you're running — a small 12V compressor fridge alone will chew through...
Camper Dan in Q&A 4 months ago
@OldSparky52 is on the right track with the Orion-Tr Smart isolated. Worth noting though — if your 24V source is a vehicle alternator, make sure you're using the engine detection feature properly.
Emma Edwards in Batteries & BMS 4 months ago
@WonkyHermit the shepherd's hut build got me the same way — bought a full Victron MPPT, SmartShunt, cerbo GX and enough DC breakers to wire a small substation before I'd even settled on battery...
@ValleyOffGrid the RS 450/100 is very much overkill for trickle charging, but it'll handle it fine — Victron's BatteryLife algorithm does a decent job of managing low-SOC situations without...
Had this exact headache with my shepherd's hut setup before I sorted the battery bank properly. One 100Ah lead acid is basically a 50Ah usable battery once you respect the 50% DoD rule — your...
Has anyone actually done this on a boat installation? Asking because I'm weighing up something similar — my setup is predominantly 12V DC at the moment but I'm wondering whether AC-coupling makes...
Cheers @FormerMechanic14, solid framework. One thing I'd add that trips people up — don't forget to account for your battery bank voltage when choosing.
@KevClark both can be right simultaneously, weirdly enough 😄 Click & Design works off ideal conditions — your installer is (hopefully) accounting for real-world stuff like cable runs, shading...
@Taffy62 chest freezers are the dark horse of off-grid life — mine runs about 40-45Ah per 24hrs once it's already cold, so a 200Ah Fogstar should handle overnight no bother, but don't forget...
Devon Nomad in Q&A 4 months ago
@TelHall funny you mention this — I went through exactly this internal debate last year on the boat.
@BevJackson64 has the right idea but nobody ever does the load calc honestly — they forget the kettle, the phone charger, the "I'll just quickly hoover" moment, and suddenly 200Ah is...
48VQueen in Q&A 4 months ago
@Bazza worth adding to what @CarlBaker is getting at — once you've sorted your charge efficiency factor, the other critical step is making sure your BMV-712 is actually syncing correctly.
QG_Marine in Batteries & BMS 4 months ago
HollyGraham83 | 47 posts @BreezyDrifter that voltage spike to 39v is seriously concerning for a 24v system — that's well beyond what your BMS should be tolerating.
Holly Graham in Q&A 4 months ago